


As Long As I Am Here.

by JamieB93



Series: Blood Feud [10]
Category: Fantastic Four, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Awesome May Parker (Spider-Man), BAMF Peter Parker, Ben Parker Lives, Ben Parker is amazing, Child Abuse, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Closeted Character, Eating Disorders, F/M, Harley Keener & Peter Parker are Siblings, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Harley Keener is a Good Bro, Harry Osborn Is a Good Bro, Harry Osborn Needs a Hug, Hurt Peter Parker, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Johnny and Reed are buds, Kid Harry Osborn, Kid Peter Parker, M/M, Mary Jane Watson is a Good Bro, Michelle Jones Is a Good Bro, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Norman Osborn Being a Jerk, Norman Osborn's A+ parenting, Peter Parker Needs a Break, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Potential Future Johnny Storm/Peter Parker, Protective Harley Keener, Protective Harry Osborn, Protective May Parker (Spider-Man), Protective Peter Parker, Protective Susan, Sexual Abuse, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, We stan Ben, gay johnny storm, like the littlest of hints, parental abandonment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:42:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25635253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamieB93/pseuds/JamieB93
Summary: Peter was an amazing kid. Kind, funny, honest, always put other people before himself. Most people in his life had never seen him angry to the point where they couldn't even imagine it. But grief and heartache after grief and heartache can change a person, and everyone has their limits.What's Peter's?[Part 10 of a planned series called Blood Feud]
Relationships: Ben Parker & May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Ben Parker & Peter Parker, Ben Parker/May Parker (Spider-Man), Harley Keener & Ben Parker, Harley Keener & May Parker, Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Harry Osborn & Ben Parker & May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Harry Osborn & Johnny Storm, Harry Osborn & Norman Osborn, Johnny Storm & Mary Jane Watson, Johnny Storm & Susan Storm, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Norman Osborne & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Johnny Storm, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Reed Richards & Johnny Storm, Reed Richards/Susan Storm (Fantastic Four)
Series: Blood Feud [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709539
Comments: 32
Kudos: 95





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HEYYY it's been a month but I'm back with a brand-spanking new chapter. The usual trigger warnings ahead, if you've been here for a while you'll know them by now but if not please note that both physical and sexual abuse as well as eating disorders are all explored in this story and are spoken about pretty openly so please be aware of that before going in
> 
> ALSO,
> 
> This universe has both a Mary-Jane Watson and a Michelle Jones. Might be trippy to some but I needed both characters for different purposes and I am trying to limit interactions between them as much as possible. This also doesn't mean that I view MJ in the MCU as "not the real MJ" but she is Michelle Jones and therefore, I can also have a Mary-Jane Watson.
> 
> Thank you, and enjoy, you'll hate me by the end.

**Blood Feud:** The Gathering Storm

* * *

Johnny Storm knew overwhelming grief and sudden tragic, violent loss like the back of his hand, which was covered in scars because of it. He’d been seven years old when he’d been in the backseat of his parents' car which had gone off road and ended up in the Hudson river. Whenever he closed his eyes every night, he was back in the sinking car, grasping at his seat belt buckle as his hysterical mother with her wounded head reached back and tried to help him. She eventually managed to set him free and get him to the top but hadn’t managed to do the same for herself, and it never left Johnny for one second that if she hadn’t turned to help him, she’d still be alive today. It wasn’t the same for his Dad, who had died on impact apparently, but Johnny knew deep down that if only one person was meant to get out of that car crash alive then it certainly wasn’t meant to have been him.

When Reed and Sue had sat him down the previous week and explained to him that Mary Osborne – the mother of two of his best friends – had been found murdered in the woods near her house, Johnny’s stomach had turned to mush and he’d spent the rest of his day crying hysterically in his sister’s arms as she once again tried to shush all the bad feelings away. He’d screamed, he’d cried, he’d thrashed around to the point where Reed had had to come and give him a sedative. It wasn’t that he was so devastated over Mrs. Osborne’s death itself – though of course he was sad about it as she’d been a nice lady who wore similar smelling perfume to his own mother – but because he knew what his friends would be feeling like and Harry, Peter and Harley didn’t deserve to feel like that.

Sue had been unsure about letting Johnny go back to school so quickly but Reed had managed to talk her around, he was awesome like that. He always knew what Johnny really wanted deep down and would help Sue see that sometimes it was best to let him make his own decisions. Johnny loved his big sister more than anything else in the world but he knew that their parents' deaths had led her to be way too overprotective of him and Reed was really good at being the middleman between them, even if he was also a complete nerd. Johnny, for the most part, didn’t hate his life with Sue and Reed. He couldn’t say he liked it as there was a pain in his chest every day from missing his folks, but he knew his big sister and her husband loved him and they made him feel safe enough to be himself, which he figured was about as much as he could ask for, and certainly more than he deserved.

“Funeral’s tomorrow” Reed said over breakfast, “I’ve booked us a cab for nine.”

“OK” Sue replied, she stroked Johnny’s slicked back blonde hair as she placed a bowl of cereal in front of him, “Johnny, that means you’re going to have to get yourself to school, OK?”

Johnny’s heart picked up its pace as he shot his sister a cross look.

“No way” he protested, “You have to let me come to the funeral, I want to be there for Harry and Peter, they need me. I’m their friend.”

“Johnathan, that funeral is going to be the biggest media circus of the year” Sue sighed, “It’s going to make news all over the world, I don’t want you in the center of all of that, and I certainly don’t want you anywhere near Norman Osborne if we can avoid it. That man gives me the creeps.”

“Come on, you have to let me go” Johnny whined, “I really liked Mrs. Osborne and she was always really nice to me”

“I just don’t think it’s something you need to see, babe” Sue said softly, “There’s going to be journalists and police and politicians and more people than you’ll have ever seen in one room before, not to mention the fact that it’s going to remind you of Mom and Dad’s funeral-“

“I don’t care about all of that” Johnny snarled, “Harry’s my best friend, I want him to know that I’m there for him. He’s not been answering any of my calls or texts and I need to let him know that I’m thinking about him and his family and if he doesn’t see me at the funeral, then I don’t know when I’ll next see him and be able to-“ 

“Johnny, take a breath, bud” Reed reminded him softly from the other end of the breakfast table. 

Johnny nodded and collected himself a little bit more and Sue’s eyes darted all over him, as if she was checking for something and couldn’t find it. She did that to him a lot.

“You’re not going” she concluded sadly, “I’m sorry Johnny, you can give me all the reasonings you want, but when it comes down to, it’s not an appropriate place for you to be and seen as though only two days ago you were begging me to let you go back to school despite my concerns for your mental health at the moment….you’re going to school.” 

Johnny smirked.

“Am I?” he shot back, “You said yourself, you’re gonna have to trust me to get there, and I think we all know that I’m just going to turn up anyway. Whether it’s with you two or on my own. You can’t stop me; I am going to that funeral.”

“Fine, we’ll take you in ourselves. We can afford to be a little late.” Sue shot back

“I’ll bail, I’ve done it before” Johnny snapped, “You know I have, and I made it so no one even realized I was gone until the end of the day. You could tie me to a chair all day and I’d still find a way to get to the funeral.”

“So, I’m just meant to let you get away with doing whatever you want because you’re bratty and tenacious enough to just do it anyway even if I say no?!” Sue said furiously, “I’m not being some unfair, cold monster here, Johnny. Six days ago I had to hold you for hours whilst you  _ sobbed  _ because this reminded you of what happened to our parents. We had to give you a tranquilizer because you were so distressed and now you expect me to just sit back and let you expose yourself to something that could set you off again? I am your guardian, Johnny, I have to do what is right for you.”

“And why don’t I ever get to decide what that is?” Johnny shot back, “Why is it always up to you to decide what’s best for me? Maybe I know for myself, maybe I know what I can handle and what I can’t way more than you do!”

“Oh is that right?!” Sue fired back before Reed coughed from the other end of the table, once again drawing the attention of both Storms.

“Johnny, you’re going to be late for school” he said softly, “I’ll drive you in today, but before we go, I need you to go back to your room and make sure you have everything, alright bud?”

Johnny paused and nodded before taking a deep breath and excusing himself from the table. Behind him, he could hear Sue sigh a little as she sat back down and a pang of guilt rang through him. He could be a real jerk sometimes; she was just worried about him. He turned back around to face her. He had to make her understand that this wasn’t just him wanting to do this, he had to do it.

“He’s my best friend, Sue” he said quietly as he faced her, “And you always taught me that it’s really important to be a good friend. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

Johnny turned and walked away, determined not to let either of his guardians see the tears that were falling from his face, tears which poured out the second he reached his bedroom and shut the door behind him. As he slumped to the floor, Johnny picked up a picture of him and his parents together at Disneyland around a month before their deaths and held it close to his heart. God, he missed them, he just hoped that he would be able to help Harry and his brothers deal with their grief as time went on.

After a few minutes, he got back on his feet, took a deep breath, and headed back into the living room where Sue and Reed were not sitting next to one another hand in hand. Sue smiled as Johnny scurried in and sat himself back down, not really able to make eye-contact with her.

“You’ve been crying” she said softly

“No, allergies.” He replied. They all knew it was a lie.

“Oh baby, you don’t have any allergies” she chuckled before standing up and moving herself behind Johnny’s hair and draping her arms around his neck. She pressed a kiss into his temple and it made him feel as safe and warm as usual. He leaned into the touch.

“Always catch me out” he muttered as Reed smirked.

“You can come tomorrow” Sue sighed as she rested her chin on his head. He looked up at her and blinked, he hadn’t expected her to change her mind, “I’m not happy about it but I get that this is something you need to do for a friend and, well, I won’t stop you doing that. But you stick by me and Reed the whole time – understood? There’s no room for debate on that one, Johnny.”

Johnny sighed. He figured that was the best he was going to get.

“Yeah, I get it” he replied with a smile, “Thanks, Sue. You have no idea what this means to me.”

“Believe me, sweetie, I think I do” she said, kissing him one more time before Reed got up and placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder.

“Let’s get you gone, pal” he said with a smile, “You know what traffic can be like at this time of the day, and I have to be at a meeting for 9.30.”

Johnny smiled and picked up his school bag, kissing Sue on the cheek and allowing their daily hug before he left to linger a little bit longer than usual. Reed, as he always did, put an arm around Johnny’s shoulders as they left and headed down to the garage to climb into his car. Sometimes Johnny was aware that Reed did this almost as if to steer him in the right directions, he knew Johnny spaced out and went into his own head sometimes, and this morning was no different.

“Thanks” Johnny said quietly once they’d buckled into their seatbelts, “I know you talked Sue round, you always do stuff like that.”

“I’ve always gotcha back, kiddo” Reed said with a smile as they started the car, “But I’m going to be seriously let down if you don’t follow our rules, tomorrow. I don’t like going against my wife and if you throw this back in my face in any way, I’ll be really disappointed.”

Johnny nodded and blushed a little. Truth be told, he had already started thinking of one or two ways he could sneak away from Reed and Sue the next day, and he immediately felt bad for doing that as he heard how serious Reed sounded. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect Sue as an authority figure, but she was still his big sister at the end of the day. Sometimes he just fought with her because that’s what brothers and sisters did. But Reed was different. If Reed told him not to do something or that something was a bad idea, then Johnny figured it was something he probably shouldn’t do.

“I promise” Johnny said honestly, “Sorry for being a bother, again.”

“You are never a bother” Reed told him, just as serious as before, “Never for a second, I’m so proud that you’re willing to fight so hard to support your friend. We’re just worried about you. I don’t want you to start cutting again, bud.”

Johnny sighed and subconsciously pulled his sleeve over his wrists, covering the pale white scars that littered the back of them.

“I told you, I’m over that” he muttered as he looked down at the floor and took a deep breath, trying to hold back another onslaught of tears. Reed reached a comforting hand and placed it on the back of Johnny’s neck.

“We gotcha, kid” he reminded Johnny once again, “We’ve always gotcha, and you’re doing an amazing thing for you friend”

Johnny smiled as he thought of Harry. He missed him. It had only been a few days, really, since they’d last seen one another but it felt like the whole world had changed. Being friends with Harry had made the last year feel so much easier, so much lighter, and Johnny just wanted to let Harry know that he was going to be there for him whenever he needed.

_ Isn’t that what you’re meant to do for the people that you love? _

Johnny sighed. He’d thought many times over the past few months about just spilling his guts and telling Reed or Sue about the fact that he had a stupid, hopeless, lovesick crush on his best friend and that he was pretty sure he was gay. As he mulled over the possibility once again, Johnny looked across at his brother in-law and felt overwhelmingly grateful that he knew for sure if he did ever tell Reed the truth, he had no doubt the man would accept and still love him. Same with Sue. Though, he thought about telling her less than he thought about telling Reed, he didn’t want to risk her being more overprotective and paranoid about him than she already was.

“Something on your mind, kiddo?” Reed asked after a few minutes of silence, “You know you can always tell me anything.”

The statement came with another soft smile and an affectionate hand on his neck, yet Johnny knew sitting in the chaos of Manhattan rush hour traffic on a Thursday morning was not the right time to tell Reed. Sometimes he wondered if Reed already knew, he always seemed to know and understand what Johnny was thinking before Johnny knew himself. Sue as well, though Johnny felt like she’d have probably said something or asked him by now if she knew.

“Nothing” he lied, the words hanging on the end of his tongue, “I just-I wanna be there for Harry, y’know?”

“And you will be” Reed assured him, “Harry’s very lucky to have a best friend like you, and you’re lucky to have him. Two peas in a pod.”

Johnny smiled. He didn’t know if Reed had just said that to say it or if it was some subtle confirmation that his brother in-law sensed what had been on the tip of his tongue and wanted to let him know it was all fine with him, but it made him feel warm and good nonetheless.

They pulled up to the school around fifteen minutes later, Reed still cursing out a woman who had been wearing a trench coat and dark sunglasses who had stepped out into the road and almost gotten herself knocked down by them, and Johnny was feeling almost anxious. He changed shit up at school. Painted on a smile and became the funny, cheeky, charismatic, slightly jerk-ish Johnny Storm that he quite liked to hide behind so the rest of his classmates wouldn’t be able to see how fucked up he was in the head.

Walls that both Harry and Peter Osborne had broken down in a matter of weeks, walls which Mary-Jane Watson was slowly chipping away at and walls that god damn Felicia Hardy seemed determined to knock down with a wrecking ball whether Johnny wanted her to or not. His hands twisted together in anxiety as he climbed out of the car, surprised when Reed followed him out of it and cast an arm around his shoulder as he began to walk up to school.

“What’re you-?” Johnny asked.

“I need to let your principle or whoever know that you’re not going to be in tomorrow” Reed said with a calming chuckle, “Don’t sweat it kiddo, I’m not gonna embarrass you or ruin your image.”

Johnny nodded as they began to part ways once they were inside the building and Reed took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the principal's office. No one was really around yet, so Johnny took a deep breath and turned back to give his brother in-law a hug. Reed seemed surprised. They were close, but they weren’t really huggers. At least not with one another. Sue got most of that energy. But in that moment, it felt right.

“You could never embarrass me” Johnny muttered before just as quickly detaching himself and blushing furiously before turning his back on Reed, whom he could have sworn had sparkling eyes.

*

_ Thursday, 18 _ _ th _ _ June 2009, Midtown Middle School, Queens, New York. _

Johnny was minding his own business getting some books from his locker when it promptly slammed shut seemingly out of nowhere and suddenly the mischievous, permanently eyebrow risen smirking face of Felicia Hardy appeared in front of him instead.

“Hey hot stuff” she said flirtatiously as Johnny gulped a little, “How’s it going? You were missed earlier this week.”

“I had shit going on,” Johnny muttered.

“So, I hear” Felicia sighed as she ran her fingers up his left arm, “So, listen, me and a few other cool people are gonna be having a pool party at Brad Davis’s house on Saturday.”

“Brad Davis?” Johnny smirked, “Isn’t he like two years younger than us?”

“So? He’s rich and has a pool” Felicia smirked, “Who cares, are you coming or not?”

“Yeah, I’ll pass” Johnny replied, “If you wanna embarrass yourself by turning up at some douchey eleven-year old’s pool party, that’s your problem. No way am I going to that thing, and Brad Davis is a dick who really needs to learn a thing or two about personal hygiene and fast.”

He rolled his eyes, picked up his books and walked off, praying that Felicia didn’t follow him as she had become accustomed to do as of late. Today was no change. Johnny sighed as he heard the pitter patter of her feet try to catch up with him as he weaved through the crowd of other students making their way through the hall. People parted like the red sea for Johnny, making way for him as if he was some kind of celebrity, and he received many pats on the back and “what’s up, Storm?” from people whose names he did not know or care to find out. Felicia eventually caught him just as he managed to make it to his homeroom.

“You’re gonna be late, Flick” he told her as she breathlessly caught up with him, “Couldn’t whatever the hell you wanna ask me have waited until later considering your homeroom is literally on the other side of the building?”

_ Thank GOD. _

Johnny peered into the room and saw that Mary-Jane had saved the same three-seater table she got every day, as if Harry would be re-joining them at any second. Mary-Jane waved and smiled at him, before rolling her eyes slightly as Felicia shot her a glare. 

“Suppose you’re gonna go and sit with miss prissy pants” she snarled, “You know, she isn’t as nice and cool as everyone thinks she is, right?”

“Is that so?” Johnny asked, “And you gave yourself a stitch running the god damn length of the school just to tell me that, as if you’re not gonna tell me again at recess, lunchtime and when we have gym together this afternoon”

“Aww, you remembered” Felicia said happily, “No, actually, you just walked off before I could ask you whether you wanted to meet up after school tomorrow and get like a milkshake or something.”

“No” Johnny said bluntly

“Why not?” she asked, sounding dejected, “We can go and get something healthier if you want, like a fruit smoothie or-“

“I won’t be here tomorrow” Johnny snapped, “I’m going to Mary Osborne’s funeral.”

Before Felicia could react, Johnny turned on his heel as the bell rang and managed a genuine smile as he approached Mary-Jane at their usual table and sat down next to her. Their homeroom teacher was a surly old man who just checked off their names on a sheet and let everyone dissolve into their own conversations for the period, so it had become where Johnny, Harry and Mary-Jane had been doing most of their catching up for the last year.

“Is that true?” Mary-Jane asked, “What you just said to Felicia? You’re going to the funeral.”

“Yeah, Sue didn’t want me to but Reed managed to persuade her” Johnny replied with a sigh, “I’d have just felt really bad if I didn’t go.”

“I wish I could” she sighed, “But there’s no way my Dad would let me and he’d kill me if he found out that I’d cut class or something.”

Johnny sighed. Unlike him and Harry, Mary-Jane was one of the poorer students in school and was only in attendance off of the back of a really good scholarship. She was hard working and very focused and he had considered her a bit of a nerd at first but once they got to know one another better, Johnny found that she had a really fun and sweet side and now she was pretty much the only person in the damn school other than Harry and Peter that he felt he could talk to.

“I’ll pass on a message for you” Johnny said with a smile, “Reed says I gotta stick by him and Sue all day so I probably won’t even get to see Harry that much anyways.”

He guessed he must have sounded extra sad when he mentioned Harry’s name as Mary-Jane’s hand reached across and stroked his wrist sadly. He’d never exactly told her about his crush on Harry but somehow, it seemed like she’d figured it out on her own sometimes. It was still too scary for him to talk about though, even with her.

“You’re a good friend, Johnny” she told him as the bell rang and they gathered their stuff up, “I know Harry will really appreciate just seeing you there.”

“Thanks” Johnny smiled sadly as they left the classroom, “What’s your morning looking like?”

“Eurgh, terrible” she huffed as she rolled her eyes, “Promise me you’ll have a better morning than me and then we can go through it over lunch, cos after two periods of Mr. Salter’s bad breath and boring war stories in a row, I’m going to need it.”

“I promise” Johnny replied before Mary-Jane gave him a quick hug and left him. It was only as he turned around to find all eyes on him that Johnny realized his mistake and that any hopes of him having a good morning had been dashed the second he’d been stupid enough to tell Felicia Hardy that he was going to be at Mary Osborne’s funeral. Felicia had clearly found some way of letting everyone in school know as quickly as possible as Johnny was subjected to whispers and giggles, more than was usual anyway, as he made his way to the first class of the day.

School, generally, sucked without Harry there. Even in the classes that Johnny did not have with Harry, which weren’t many, he at least managed to get through them knowing that his best friend would be waiting for him at the classroom door, ready to move on to wherever they needed to go next. Johnny had no idea how Harry always managed to get out of his own classes in enough time to meet Johnny at his but he’d long ago learned not to question the wonder of Harry Osborne.

Life was grey without him. There was no one for Johnny to smirk with when Mr. Harrington dropped coffee allover himself for the third time in a one-hour session, no one for Johnny to text dumb jokes to under the table whilst Mrs. Carraway butchered Of Mice & Men, and no one to act as a buffer for Johnny when certain annoying girls who just never got the hint that he wasn’t interested in them would come over and try to flirt. Unsurprisingly, Mary-Jane’s presence in those situations only seemed to encourage them more. Harry and Johnny’s friendship with her had caused a lot of green-eyed envy around school which had led to a few situations where people were awful to her because of it. Johnny had never been angrier.

By the time he sat down next to Mary-Jane in the cafeteria at lunchtime, Johnny already felt completely spent and the thought that the day was only halfway over was enough to make him want to cry. Luckily he did have a double gym all afternoon which was the only class he and Mary-Jane shared.

“Bad morning?” she asked as he sat down.

“Terrible” Johnny sighed, “Not really in a talking kinda mood yet.” 

“That’s fair,” Mary-Jane said with a smile before picking up her copy of Pride & Prejudice and carrying on where she left off. Johnny glared at some passing girls from the grade below who snorted at the sight of her reading in the middle of the cafeteria. They were such idiots.

“Chill, hot head” she said from behind her book.

“What do you mean?” Johnny huffed.

“I can see your frown from behind here” Mary-Jane smirked, “They’re just jealous because they have crushes on you.”

“It’s pathetic” Johnny frowned, “I’d never look twice at them-“

He blushed furiously as Mary-Jane put her book down and gave him an inquisitive look, Johnny stuttered and tried to scramble a sentence together but before he could manage it, he heard an awkward cough ring out behind him and whipped his head around. Peter Parker’s best friend Ned Leeds stood nervously behind him, clutching what looked to be a handmade card to his chest, practically shaking as people around him appeared to smirk at the underconfident, overweight twelve-year old thinking he could just approach Johnny Storm.

_ Well, fuck all of you. _

He turned around and gave Ned Leeds and the frizzy haired black girl who stood behind him, apparently for moral support, the flashiest smile he could manage. It felt like the lie it was but it seemed to do the job as Ned’s face lit up when he saw it.

“Mr. Storm, sir-“ Ned began as Johnny pushed two chairs out so he and his friend could sit down on the table with him and Mary-Jane, “Oh, thanks.”

“Don’t call him mister, weirdo” Ned’s friend muttered impatiently as the two sat down. Mary-Jane smirked.

“Your friend’s right Neddo” Johnny said with a smile, “My pal’s call me Johnny.”

“Oh, right-“ Ned stammered, blushing a little, “Thanks, erm, well-I-Michelle told me that Flash Thompson was saying that you-you’re going to Peter’s mom’s funeral tomorrow….is that true?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there” Johnny replied calmly, hoping that his face didn’t for a second give away the explosion of anxiety that went off in the pits of his stomach at the thought, and judging by the fact no one around him seemed to think he looked to be on the verge of having a heart attack he guessed that he had succeeded, “Is that all you wanted to know?”

Johnny gestured to the homemade card that was still sitting in Ned’s clammy hands.

“You don’t have to” the boy murmured as he slid the card over to Johnny. He smiled as he looked at the nice flowers Ned had painted on the front of the pink card, but didn’t pry into what was probably a private message just for Peter inside, “I just-I could send it in the post but-“

“I’ll make sure he gets it” Johnny said brightly as he reached for his backpack, opened it and showed Ned and his friend where he was going to safely store the card, “I promise. And I know Peter will really appreciate it.”

“Thanks” Ned said, still blushing, “We worked really hard on it”

_ We? _

Johnny glanced at Ned’s friend who for the first time did not have a borderline icy, uncaring demeanor plastered across her face. She slumped in a little bit and her shoulders reached up to her neck for a second before she regained her composure. Johnny felt like a dick for not knowing anything about this girl, who was clearly a good friend of Peter’s if she was helping Ned with a condolence card, and he was meant to be Peter’s friend as well, wasn’t he? How could he not have known one of Peter’s best friends. 

“I only did it because you were so clueless” she murmured under her breath, still blushing. 

“Yeah, Michelle doesn’t really like Peter that much” Ned said cluelessly as Johnny and Mary-Jane caught one another’s eyes and tried not to smirk, “She kinda doesn’t like anyone that much.”

“That’s not true” Michelle protested, “I hate most people, don’t hate you though. Or Peter, really.”

“Well that’s good” Johnny said brightly, “I think anyone who could genuinely find it in their hearts to dislike Peter Osborne is an absolute psychopath.”

Michelle nodded and carried on staring down at the table. Johnny knew her pain all too well. She was in more or less the same boat he was in, having a whopping great crush on one of the Osborne boys and not knowing the first thing about how she should handle it given their current circumstances. At least Johnny got to be close friends with Harry, clearly Michelle was keeping herself at a distance from Peter. 

“We should go,” Ned said quickly, “Lunch is nearly over and we’ve gotta walk all the way to the Tenant building for the fifth period.”

“OK, man” Johnny said patting Ned on the back, “Now you tell Mr. Ackroyd that Johnny Storm misses him and he can’t wait to mess around in his labs again next Friday.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Storm” Ned chuckled as he got up. Johnny cringed. 

“Dude, what did I just say?” he asked with a laugh, “I told you, my friends call me Johnny.”

Ned nodded and shuffled off shyly as Johnny swung his legs back around so he was sitting fully behind the table once again. He smiled at Mary-Jane who quickly caught his eye and gestured to the side, and to his surprise when he turned around, Johnny found that Michelle was lingering and hadn’t left with Ned. 

“Everything good, Michelle?” he asked.

“Just-just tell Peter I’m sorry, OK?” Michelle blurted out, “I said some kinda rude stuff to him the last time I saw him and I feel bad. Just-let him know that I think what happened to his Mom sucks and that he can talk to me if he wants, not that he probably will...want to, anyway...yeah…”

And with that, Michelle turned on her heel and booked it out of the cafeteria pretty quickly. Part of Johnny almost wanted to laugh. That girl had a massive great crush on geeky, dorky but sweet Peter Osborne and there was part of that Johnny found hilarious and wanted to both joke about it with Harry and then give Peter endless amounts of shit about having a girlfriend, but he knew that now was not the time. Michelle and Ned had clearly spent a lot of time thinking of the best way that they could let Peter know he was thought of and Johnny wasn’t going to ruin that for them. 

“You’re so nice” Mary-Jane noted once Michelle had gone, “I hate the way you think you have to be a little jerkish sometimes, you’re so nice.”

Johnny’s shoulders came up to his ears in much the same way Michelle’s had just minutes before when she had been on the receiving end of a compliment.

“Shut up” he smirked quietly, “I’m not that nice.”

“Whatever you say, Storm” Mary-Jane sighed, “Maybe one of these days you’ll actually wake up and realize how awesome you are, until then I’m just going to keep reminding you. At least until Harry gets back and then he can start that shit up again.”

“I’m not nice” Johnny insisted, ignoring the fact that even the mention of Harry’s name drew an insane amount of butterflies to his stomach.

“Mean people wouldn’t do what you just did” Mary-Jane shrugged, “Believe me. You’re a really nice person, Johnny, and I don’t care if you don’t believe me. It’s true regardless.”

“Thanks, I guess” Johnny mumbled as he pulled his sleeve over his accidentally exposed wrists and avoided eye-contact with Mary-Jane as if she’d turn him to stone, “You’re nice too...y’know, it’s not just me.”

“Oh please, I know how awesome I am” Mary-Jane said with a smile, “You boys hit the jackpot when you made friends with me”

Johnny smiled. They really hard.

They linked arms as they left the cafeteria and Johnny glared at anyone who dared say anything to them. Mary-Jane smiled and kissed him on the cheek. 

“Harry will be alright, you know” she told him, “He has you.” 

Johnny blushed.

_ God, I hope so. _

*

_ Thursday 18th June 2009, Osborne Manor, Long Island, New York. _

Ben Parker pulled up to the mansion just as the sun was starting to set. He could see the preparation for Mary’s funeral the following day was already well underway. Some favors called in by Norman’s more powerful friends in the powerful and depraved upper echelon of New York City society had meant that Mary’s body had been released earlier than expected and it had been all steam ahead on the funeral after that. Ben, who had spent most of the time since Mary’s murder with his brother, had been angered but not exactly surprised when May had revealed to him that she and the boys had been utterly left out of any planning and Osborne along with Quentin Beck and some other board trustees had decided on what would make an acceptable and appropriate display of the families grief.

The short of it was, Norman Osborne had decided to politicize his wife’s death and use it to his advantage for his upcoming congressional campaign. He’d be up for election in January so had over six months to mine and exploit his wife’s tragic murder for his own gain. Ben felt anger rise again in his chest as his hand clutched the steering wheel as he went over what he and Richard had spent the past few days discussing. It all stunk to high heaven. Someone had killed Mary Osborne, and Ben was willing to bet it was someone she knew, yet the investigation into the murder of one of the most recognizeable women in America seemed to have already come to a halt. It had been less than two weeks and it already seemed like a line was being drawn under it.

Whoever had killed her had done a good job, clear shot, no traces left behind. No footprints. Nothing. It was as if someone had appeared out of thin air, shot her and then evaporated again but Ben knew that couldn’t have been the case. His plan had been to stay with Richard, who was grief stricken and angry, for a little longer but May had begged him to come back to manor as she needed some support against Norman, who had offered her something that shook her to her core. She’d told Ben it wasn’t safe to discuss over the phone and that he would have had to come back and speak to her in person about it urgently, as Norman needed an answer by the end of the funeral. 

Ben looked down as his phone pinged and saw the text that had just come through from Richard;  _ I promise that I will do what’s right _ . Ben rolled his eyes. They’d spent the last few days worried that Richard’s affair with Mary would somehow make its way to the press following a heads up from Christine Everhart who had done the expose on the Osborne’s the previous summer. According to her, the affair was an open secret amongst the New York press and whilst she had no plans to expose it herself, she also could not guarantee that no one else would. Ben knew that Richard would go from mere employee that police might need to speak to for convenience reasons to prime suspect number one if his affair with Mary became public knowledge. 

Ben had asked his younger brother if he’d been the one to kill Mary, and his brother swore that he hadn’t. Ben believed him. For all of Richard’s many flaws, he knew his brother wouldn’t lie to him about something this important. 

He’d told Richard about Skip. Well, his version of the truth. He’d made a promise to Harry Osborne that he had no intention of breaking, not even for Richard. 

Slowly, Ben took a deep breath and got out of his car. He made his way through the grounds and let himself into one of the side doors by the kitchen where he had arranged to meet May. It wasn’t that he was trying to avoid the boys, whom he had missed terribly and had felt awful over not being there enough for, but they knew if he’d gone in through the front door the boys would have piled on him and he needed to speak to May right away.

Any anxiety he felt seemed to fade away as soon as he saw her again. She seemed to feel the same, judging by the fact she more or less collapsed into his arms. 

“Fuck” he said as her head tucked itself into the crook of his neck, “Let’s never be apart for this long ever again, especially when we’re both fucked up.”

“This has been the worst week of my life” May sniffed as his arms found their way around her back and held her closer to him, “I swear, every waking moment….if it wasn’t for the fact I had to be there for the kids, I’m pretty sure I’d have just been sobbing the whole time.”

“I’m sorry” Ben choked, “I’m so sorry May, but-”

“He’s a loose cannon, you need to contain him” May sighed, “I get it. And the boys have been great with helping one another. It’s me who’s the mess.”

“Well, I’m here now and I can take some of the load” Ben replied as he planted a kiss on the top of her head, “How have the boys been doing? Really?”

May regained her composure and removed her head from under Ben’s chin. She swiped affectionately down his cheek as she stood to face him.

“It’s hard to say” she admitted, “Some days have been better than others. Harley’s….well, you can imagine what this has done to his eating habits. We’re having to practically bribe him into eating but he  _ is  _ eating so I suppose that’s something. Harry’s just….angry, a lot of outbursts. Of all of them he’s the one who’s asking where you are the most, which is surprising-”

Ben winced. Leaving to make sure Richard didn’t do anything too loose canon seemed naive when he was leaving behind a 13-year old loose canon in his place. Harry could have said anything by now, but luckily it seemed he hadn’t. 

-”And then Peter” May carried on, sighing and sitting herself down as she uttered Peter’s name, “God, Ben, I am so worried about him. He’s….it’s not even like he’s pretending Mary isn’t dead and hiding his grief, it’s worse. It’s like he’s feeling it. All of it, but he’d just decided that his feelings don’t matter as long as he’s helping everyone else out.”

“Yeah, that sounds like him” Ben replied as he sat down next to her and took her hands in his, “Every bit Mary’s son”

“I just...I know I’m not helping him, not in the way he needs” May went on as tears formed in her eyes, Ben brushed them away as they cascaded down her cheeks, “But it’s hard. He gets Abbie up every morning and watches the sunrise with her, I can hear him chattering away to her from my bedroom window and I know….I know it shouldn’t be on an 11-year old boy to be doing the heavy lifting with his baby sister but, God, when he’s with Abbie, it’s the only time he seems like the Peter we all know and love. The rest of the time he’s just….he’s so vague, Ben. It’s like he’s given up on himself.”

“Is it because…..has he talked about Westcott?” Ben asked.

May shook her head.

“No, and I wouldn’t even begin to know how to ask him” she replied, “I know he should be in therapy or something but….it’s impossible, at the moment. He’s already carrying so much grief and taking on everyone else’s, how can I force him into talking about  _ that  _ when he doesn’t want to? I love them and they love me, Ben, but I’m not their Mom. And I never will be.”

May’s tears came unabashed after that and all Ben could do was hold her and hate himself. He prioritised Richard over her, over the boys, and for what? So they could cook up some half-baked contingency plan just in case Richard found himself actually being held responsible for his actions for once in his life. Ben just held her until they stopped.

“May, this thing Norman spoke to you about-” he began once he assumed she had calmed down enough to a point where she could speak normally, “What was it?”

Ben grimaced as his wife took a pained breath and stroked his face once again. She looked out of the window before taking a deep breath, his hand in hers and looking him right in the eyes, the same fiery determination filling them that had made him fall in love with her pretty much straight away all those years ago. 

“Norman’s leaving New York” she told him, “Once the funeral is over, he’s packing up and moving down to Washington so he can work on his congressional campaign or whatever, cos heaven forbid that he should suffer in all of this. And when I mean when the funeral is over, I mean literally the second the last of the guests have left the building, he’s gone. The stuff is already packed, he already has a place in D.C. ready and waiting for him, he’s gone.”

“Right” Ben said slowly as he tried to process the information, God his boss was one cold-hearted son of a bitch, “And what….he wants us to just pack up and march our whole lives down there so I can carry on being some toy security man and you can do all the heavy lifting with the kids?”

“Not..exactly” May replied just as slowly, “See...he doesn’t want us in Washington. In fact, when we spoke, he made it pretty clear he doesn’t want anything more to do with either of us, ever. He was going to fire us but then….it was scary, Ben, seeing the clogs in his head turn like that. Seeing him treat life as a chess game in real life. Then he...well, he made me an impossible offer.”

“What?” Ben asked

“He wants the kids to stay in New York” May sighed, “He tried to make out it was so not to uproot them or make any more drastic changes to their lives but I think we both know he’s talking out his ass. He just doesn’t want the burden of them to fall to him and get in the way of his ambitions. Norman doesn’t want the kids in DC, he wants them here. With us.”

“Us?” Ben repeated dumbly, “What are you talking about, May?”

“Norman is willing to sign over all custodial rights of all the kids to me and you” May explained as she poured herself a glass of wine, “He’s gonna hide it from the press and create some spin story about being a travelling Dad who does it all, but officially, he’s willing to make us the kids legal guardians and wave any parental rights to them. He’s set up trust funds, bumping up our wages, we’d move into the penthouse, new cars, health care plans, everything you can think of. He wants us to raise the kids”

Ben almost laughed. This was….this was ludicrous, even for Norman Osborne’s standards. He wanted to just abandon his grief stricken children on the day of their mother’s funeral, pretend they didn’t exist, pretend that-

“Wait, but they’ll lose their inheritance” Ben said angrily, “If he’s signing over his-”

“Everything’s going to Harry” May interjected, “He’s shown me the documents, and they’re real, it’s Harry he’s put down to inherit everything, when he’s 18. Apparently Norman expects to be too powerful to justify owning such a large business by 2013, so he’s going to sign everything over to his eldest son that year in some kind of pathetic wholesome father and son act. It’s sick, but he’s got it all planned out.”

“He’s a goddamn psychopath” Ben said breathlessly, “And he….he seriously wants us to just give up our lives and raise his kids? Not that I don’t love them, May, but are we really prepared to take on three grief stricken teenage boys all of whom have their own huge issues as well as a newborn baby who’s already lost one parent?”

May nodded, she grabbed his hands once again and looked into his eyes. 

“I want to do it,” she admitted.

“That’s because you’re you” Ben sighed, “And you’d do anything for anyone but this isn’t right, May, we can’t do this. You just said to yourself that you’re not their mother, and you never can be. Just like I can’t be their Dad.”

Ben’s wife sighed, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I know” she replied, “And I can never replace Mary in their lives or try to but Ben, whatever flaws I may have, whatever flaws you may have, we’re better for them than Norman Osborne ever will be and certainly better than some cold, old archaic boarding school in England will be for the boys because that’s what he’s planning to do with them if we say no. Shipped off to the other side of the world where they don’t know anyone, thousands of miles away from everything they’ve ever known. And he’s just gonna give Abigail over to his parents. Two people in their seventies.”

He wanted to cry. Norman had really backed them into a corner here and it wasn’t as if Ben didn’t love the boys and want to give them the best in life, but not like this. He wasn’t ready for this. But it seemed as if May had already made up her mind.

“This is huge,” he gulped.

May grabbed his hands again and looked him straight in the eyes. The fiery determination that sucker punched him every time he saw it was more evident than it ever had been. 

“Ben Parker, you look at me in the eyes and you tell me you don’t think we can do this” she said angrily.

He couldn’t.

*

“Uncle Ben!”

Ben smiled as Harley Osborne put down his book and beamed before leaping into his arms as he walked into the living room with May by his side. He couldn’t help but laugh as the small boy hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Harry stayed firmly where he had been seated, barely even reacting to Ben’s presence. 

“Hey, Harls” Ben said fondly as he hugged Harley

“We’ve missed you” Harley said, “Why’d you go away?”

“I just….needed some time with your Uncle Rich” Ben replied, smoothing Harley’s hair and trying to see for himself just how much thinner Harley looked and how much his cheeks had caved in on themselves. Even a little bit was far too much, “But I’m back now and I’m not going anywhere ever again.”

“It’s the funeral tomorrow” Harley replied mournfully in his arms, “I’m scared.”

“I know buddy, I know” Ben sighed as Harley shook, “But, listen, I’m going to be with you boys the whole day and I promise that I’ll be around from now on, OK?”

“Until Richard needs you” Harry muttered bitterly from the corner. Ben didn’t have the energy or the confidence in his decision making to pull the boy up on it. Harley released himself from the hug when May reminded him it was time for his snack before bed, Ben smiled as he watched Harley walk along to the kitchen cupboards with May and eat a granola bar without much fuss. He felt sad that May apparently seemed to be under the impression that she’d been doing a bad job with Harley when that in itself was a massive achievement. 

Ben turned to face Harry.

“Come for a walk with me?” he asked, “I know you don’t like to do feelings and all that shit in front of people anymore.”

Harry took a moment to react. He blinked a few times and Ben briefly wondered if he’d just massively fucked up by asking Harry to go for a walk, especially considering the last time they did that, they stumbled across Harry’s mother’s dead body.

Eventually though, Harry nodded and Ben winked at May as the teenager grabbed his jacket and followed Ben out of the back doors onto the sprawling garden overlooking the now moonlit lake. Ben sighed. 

“You told me you’d always be around” Harry said angrily, “You lied.”

“I needed to see your Uncle Rich,” Ben replied.

“Why?” Harry asked, “What was so wrong with him that it meant you had to leave us - leave me - when our Mom had just been killed? Harley and Peter have been crying out for you for weeks in their sleep you know, they don’t feel safe when you’re not around and you wanna know how I know that, because they’re both so scared and terrified that they have to come and sleep in my bed with me so we-they, I mean, can all be together.”

Harry’s little slip-up did not go unnoticed, he needed his brothers to sleep as much as they needed him, those poor damn kids. 

“Your Uncle Rich was upset that-”

“It’s because he loved Mom, right?” Harry asked, and Ben nearly fell to pieces because how in the hell did Harry know- “He was in love with Mom.”

“Harry, look-”

“I only figured it out a few days ago” Harry admitted, “May was on the phone to you and she was asking how he was and then I thought back on some stuff and yeah….they were having an affair weren’t they?”

Ben was honestly speechless. He didn’t know exactly why he was so shocked that Harry, who had always been a very perceptive kid even when he was a toddler, had managed to piece it all together but the shock remained nonetheless. 

“Yeah” Ben admitted breathlessly, “Yeah, they were.”

Harry nodded and gulped. Taking on yet more pain and disappointment because apparently when it came to Mary Osborne’s sons, the Universe was a cruel and malevolent bastard. 

“He OK?” Harry asked quietly, and Ben’s heart shattered in two. 

“He doesn’t matter, kiddo” Ben said sadly, “He doesn’t matter in any of this, and I shouldn’t have put him before you guys when you needed me. It was wrong.”

Harry nodded.

“I just don’t like it when you’re not around” he admitted, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket which was a little too big for him and covered his whole hand, “And...y’know, you said you’d make everything right with…”

“And I will” Ben assured him, “I haven’t said anything to anyone, and I never will. That’s a promise. I will take that to my grave.”

“I’m sorry” Harry said, sniffling a little and turning away from Ben so the man could not see him start to cry, “I never meant to-”

“Hey, kid, we’ve been through this” Ben said as he turned Harry to face him, “No one has to know anything about what you did, and what you did….I can’t say it was the right thing to do but I understand it. He hurt your brother and you lashed out. I know I’d do the same to anyone who hurt my brother like that.”

“Grandma says killers go to hell” Harry moaned, “I know it sounds stupid and I never really even believed in all that stuff before but now that-I just don’t-am I a bad person, Ben?”

That seemed to be the question that was weighing most on Harry’s mind. Ben could tell the boy had been sitting on it for weeks, needing validation from the one person who knew everything, the one person who knew the full story and who could still assure him he wasn’t evil for what he’d done. Ben had left the poor kid flailing about in the water with nothing to grab on to. 

“Because what if I am” Harry continued, “What if I am a bad person and God or whoever decided to punish me by taking Mom away, maybe it’s my fault, maybe I-”

Ben shut Harry up by pulling him into a hug and holding him as the tears fell without hesitation, feeling the teenagers hands claw at his back in a desperate attempt to cling on. The poor kid thought it was his fault his mother had been killed. Some divine, sick karmic retribution.

“It’s not your fault” Ben said calmly, though he paled in comparison to Robin Williams, “Harry, listen to me, sweetheart - it’s not your fault, it’s not your fault one little bit. I don’t know what happened to your Mom or why but it was not your fault. You hear me, it’s not your fault”

“Why did you go away?” Harry cried, “I needed you”

“Buddy, I-”

“Dad’s leaving us” Harry hiccoughed as he spoke and Ben sighed, of course he should have known that Harry would be aware of that as well, “P-Peter and Harley d-don’t know but I heard him talking to B-Beck and he’s leaving us behind and moving to Washington.”

“Harry, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love you” Ben said, trying to find something  _ anything  _ to give this kid any form of comfort, “He-”

“I don’t care” Harry said resolutely as he released himself from the hug, “I don’t care, I want him to, we’ll be better off without him. I hate him.”

“Buddy-”

“What? Why shouldn’t I?” Harry snapped, “All he ever does is treat us like crap and he beats me up and he makes Harley feel like shit and he doesn’t even care that Peter was-was, y’know, and we’ll be better off with you and May cos you actually love us.”

Ben was speechless. Not only that Harry knew exactly what Norman was planning but that he didn’t care, and not only that but he wanted it to happen. He wanted his own father to walk away from him. Just how much damage had been done to this kid?

“I always used to wish you were my Dad instead of him, you know” Harry muttered as Ben held him once again, “If I get to have that, I know everything will be alright.”

Ben closed his eyes and tried to fight back the tears.

Harry and Ben returned inside after half an hour, pretty much spent with Harry trying to pretend as if he hadn’t just spilled out his most emotional and embarrassing secrets to the man. Ben watched with a sad smile as Harry took himself off to have a shower before going to bed. There was no sign of May and Harley which Ben took to mean his wife was probably cuddled up with the tyke somewhere as he’d been having problems getting to sleep lately for obvious reasons. 

As he marched upstairs, Ben decided to take a look in on Peter. He knew the boys were all sharing Harry’s bed lately so bypassed Peter’s own bedroom and looked in on Harry’s. Sure enough, Ben found the boy sleeping soundly on top of the covers of Harry’s bed, alone but for his infant sister who was sleeping on his chest. It was both a heartwarming and heartbreaking scene. Peter’s fingers curled protectively around his sister and he slept with a frown on his face. Ben felt chills on his arm as he moved closer to the boy, for Peter’s frown was not one that he seemed to be wearing out of any kind of anxiety or sadness. It was angry.

Barring a few childhood tantrums, Ben had never really seen Peter angry. It just wasn’t in the boy's nature, though now Ben considered it naive of him to have believed that Peter was incapable of being angry, because everyone was capable of that. But Peter looking so angry and so fiercely defiant seemed to be going against the natural order of things. Ben understood it though. It was an anger born of protectiveness. An anger that said to anyone who might wish the little girl sleeping tightly on his chest that Peter would rip them apart if they tried. It was a look he recognized because he’d worn it a thousand times in his life before. He’d worn it throughout his entire childhood as he tried to keep himself and Richard out of scrapes. He’d worn it throughout his entire marriage; not because May was some damsel who needed his help, but because the Universe never gave Ben Parker good things and he would go down in hand to hand combat if it tried to hurt her like it had hurt him.

It was a look that said; I have nothing else, I have no other purpose but to keep you safe.

Ben didn’t want that for Peter. This was an eleven year-old boy who had already withstood sexual abuse and was now having to cope with the violent murder of his mother, sacrificing himself for the welfare of everyone around him. It wasn’t a burden Peter Osborne deserved to bear and Ben knew in that moment that he had to step up and make sure this kid got to live as normal and stable of a life as he and May could provide him. He stroked Peter’s bangs from out of his eyes and the boy briefly stirred, those beautiful chocolate eyes focusing in on Ben. A small smile crept across his lips.

“You came back” he said quietly, “That’s good, it’ll make Harry happy.”

_ What about you, kid? What about you? _

“I’m back for you all bud, I shoulda never gone away in the first place” Ben replied softly, stroking Peter’s hair once again, “I’m gonna move Abbie into her crib, OK?”

Peter whimpered a little as his baby sister was moved from his chest and into her crib, but was fast asleep once again by the time Ben turned back around after placing the infant down and giving her soft head a kiss. 

“It’s like that most nights” Harry’s voice rang out from behind Ben who turned around to face him, fresh faced and ready for bed, “He’s got really attached to her. I don’t think he’d have got through the last few weeks if he hadn’t had her to look after.”

Ben smiled and patted Harry on the shoulder as the boy climbed into bed. Peter instinctively turned towards Harry in his sleep and cast the same protective arm around his big brother’s torso. Ben nearly smirked as he saw Harry roll his eyes but fail to keep a small smile from his lips.

“Just me, Petey” Harry assured his little brother as he settled down next to him before looking back up at Ben, “He does this a lot as well. It’s like he can only ask for someone to stay close with him when he’s asleep.”

Ben nodded, kind of lost for words.

He knew that this was it. This was the moment where Ben Parker agreed to the Universe that he would be giving up the rest of his life to give these precious, precious boys the life that they deserved to have. 

“Ben?” Harry asked shyly

“Yeah, bud,” a choked Ben replied.

“Would you….would you stay until I fell asleep?” Harry asked quietly, “It’s just….whenever I close my eyes, I just see-”

“Say no more,” Ben said with a smile. He took a deep breath and quietly made his way on to the edge of the bed and began to run his hands through Harry’s locks. The boy almost flinched out of the touch as he normally did but eventually settled and allowed the action to sooth him to sleep. Ben couldn’t help but wonder when the last time that Harry had actually slept was, but he was pleased the kid had nodded off fairly quickly. Ben had some business to sort out. 

Just as he was about to leave, however, the door was gently opened and May appeared with a slumbering Harley in her arms. Ben took over as his wife’s knees started to buckle down a little and he placed Harley safely in between his big brothers whilst May inspected Abbie. 

“Zonked out in infront of Toy Story again” May sighed as she looked at the precious sight in front of them, all of Mary’s angels safe and sleeping soundly amongst one another, “Becoming a bit of a nightly routine, I’ll have to ease him out of it-”

“If I said no, we’d never see them again, would we?” Ben asked her, “Norman would send them away before we even got a chance to say goodbye. I don’t think I could handle that. Hell, I know I wouldn’t be able to handle that. You’d find me scaling the walls of Hogwarts or whatever, and end up getting myself a room in the Tower of London.”

“I’d be right there with you” May replied, folding her arms, “Though I don’t think they actually use the Tower of London to hold prisoners anymore.”

Ben laughed.

“I can’t lose them” he said, “I feel it May, they feel like mine. I know that sounds weird to say but honestly, if anyone ever hurt them again, I’d tear them apart and relish every second of it. I feel that to my bones.”

“Is that a yes, then?” May asked, eyes full of hope and emotion. Ben nodded.

“The only choice we have” Ben sighed, “You know Harry already knows, right? And he doesn’t care. Hell, he  _ wants  _ Norman to do it. What does that say?”

“He’ll break them” May agreed, “We’ve got a chance to give them the best life they deserve here, Ben, we can really make things better for all of them.”

“You’re right” Ben replied, “And maybe he already has, maybe the damage is already done, maybe all we can do is make sure nothing gets any worse and that Abbie grows up without any of this around her. Cos tomorrow, not only is he gonna put them through burying their mother in front of the whole world, he’s also going to just pack up and abandon them. Both parents, one day. How do you ever move past that?”

May shook her head. There was no answer. It was like Norman had set up one last trauma to inflict on these poor boys on purpose before he walked out of their lives for good. 

“How did Harry find out?” May asked.

“Said he heard you and Beck talking” Ben replied

“Bastard” May snarled, “I suppose if there’s one silver lining in all of this it’s that I never have to be around that brown nosing piece of shit ever again.”

“I might punch him again before he leaves,” Ben smirked.

“We’re really gonna do this?” May asked, “Because I don’t want you to feel forced into it, I know you never exactly wanted kids of your own.”

“I want this” Ben assured her, “It’s the right thing to do and I know we don’t really have a choice but I do want it. I love them, May.”

May nodded.

“Someone better tell Norman” she said, “He’s all for packing them up first thing tomorrow morning if we haven’t given him an answer.”

“I’ll go,” Ben told her, “There’s a few things I’d like to say to himself myself.”

*

Norman Osborne was in what was left of his one meticulous home office, drinking scotch with Quentin Beck when Ben found him. It was strange. Right up until the moment where he saw that Norman had actually gone ahead and packed up his beloved office, Ben could have believed that this was all a giant misunderstanding and the man wasn’t going anywhere. But seeing the empty space, boxes on boxes, it was undeniable at this point. Norman was really going to abandon his children. 

“Benjamin” Norman said courteously as Ben marched towards them, “Nice to see you, I trust Richard’s well?”

“Never mind him” Ben snapped, keen to steer any conversations regarding Richard away but also determined to speak his mind on what Norman was doing before the man had a chance to gloss over it, “May’s told me about your offer.”

Beck and Norman looked at one another, clearly intrigued. 

“I see” Norman replied as he put his glass down, “Probably seems somewhat cruel and unusual to you, at least the way she likely described it to you, but I promise I’m not so heartless. The boys will be financially catered for and I’ll still come and visit seasonally. My future is merely in Washington and the boys do not really fit into those plans. It’ll be much better this way, for all parties. Yourself included, Benjamin, hell of a pay rise and you don’t have to spend quite so much time around myself and Beck. Which I know you despise.”

Ben rolled his eyes.

“You realize the damage this is going to do the kids, I presume” Ben shot back, “They’ve just lost their Mom and now their Dad is planning on walking out on them as well.”

“I wouldn’t consider it walking out necessarily” Norman replied, “And you’re running the risk of sounding hypocritical Benjamin, everyone in this room knows that you’d consider the boys to better off away from me. Perhaps you’re right, perhaps I’m making the best decision for them as their parent”

“You tell yourself that if you want, Osborne” Ben snarled, “We all know it’s just a convenient co-incidence for you. Those boys are better off away from you but don’t you dare makeout you’re doing this for anyone’s good but your own.”

Norman shrugged and downed his next glass of whisky.

“These are tricky times for us all, Parker” Norman sighed, “Mary’s death has brought home to me what is really important in life.”

“Your own ambition” Ben smirked.

“No, what I can do for this country” Norman sneered, “The good I can do for millions of people and if my boys have to go without their father for a few years so I can get it done, then so be it. And this is a good thing for that brother of yours as well.”

Ben’s head snapped up and he squinted, looking at Norman with uncertainty.

“What do you mean?” he asked, hoping fear didn’t give him away.

“Well someone’s got to take charge of the company until the time comes for me to hand things over to Harold” Norman said with a smile, “I’ll be talking with him tomorrow.”

“Before or after your wife’s been lowered into the ground?” Ben snarled.

“Benjamin, that’s unfair-”

“Oh, my bad” Ben snapped, “As they’re lowering her, right?”

“It’s sad you have such a low opinion of me, Parker” Norman sighed, “That after all these years of working so closely with me, you still think I’m so cold…”

“It’s  _ because  _ I’ve worked with you so closely that I can think that” Ben said angrily, “Those boys deserve so much better than you.”

“And I’m giving it to them, aren’t I?” Norman snapped back, “I’m giving them a chance to grow up away from my apparently toxic influence. You’re getting what you and your wife have always wanted, Parker, unlimited access to  _ my  _ children, with all expenses covered. I’m out of the picture, you should be celebrating.”

“I can’t celebrate anything that is going to bring those children anymore pain” Ben snarled, “I’ll do it, and I’m happy they’re going to be away from you, but if you think for one second I can accept that hurt this is going to cause them when they’re already suffering so much….well, maybe you’re the one who hasn’t got to know me.”

Norman rolled his eyes as Beck smirked.

“Very morally righteous for someone who’s brother was fucking my wife” Norman snarled and Ben felt his blood run cold, “Yeah, I know. I’ve known all along.”

Ben gulped. This was a nightmare.

“What’re-what’re you gonna do?” he asked.

“Why should I do anything?” Norman shrugged, “Not exactly something I want the world to know about, that I couldn’t satisfy my wife, that my precious Abigail might not be mine. No, Richard Parker may go down one day, but it won’t be because he was screwing around with Mary.”

“You’re talking about Sokovia,” Ben sighed. Norman smiled evilly.

“Partly” he shrugged, “It’s all more or less tied together, at the end of the day. And don’t think I haven’t known about your little role covering all that up either, by the way, whilst we’re being honest and upfront about our opinions on one another. Loyal to the end, eh Benjamin? Even if it means crossing lines not even I would dare. Makes me wonder how you sleep at night.”

“If you’re only partly referring to Sokovia,” Ben went on, refusing to be intimidated or shamed by Norman Osborne of all goddamn people. It wasn’t that what happened in Sokovia to those families because of what Richard had done didn't play on his mind, of course it did, but all he’d done was give Richard a fake passport to get him back into the US. “Then what are you referring to?”

“Oh, you mean your brother didn’t inform you of our little experiment whilst you were alone together all these weeks?” Norman asked, “Funny that, I never had Richard Parker marked down for moral cowardice or deceit. Fancy, keeping all that from the brother you claim to love and trust beyond all measure. Eurgh, the amount of times I’ve had to listen to him sing your praises…..”

“Tell me  _ what _ ” Ben snarled.

“Tell you about the fact that once a month he, Beck and I knock Peter out with the mother of all tranquilizers, pretend he’s had a seizure to cover it up and then harness his DNA” Norman said casually, with a chuckle, “See, there’s business to be had in developing enhanced human abilities for the sake of defending our great nation. Ways in which we can make sure the United States, nay the world, is protected from destruction and if all it takes is a few super soldiers, I can live with that.”

Ben nearly fell back against the cabinet behind him. Richard had….he’d been experimenting on Peter, all this time, and he’d never said a word? All those times Ben knew that Mary had gone to him weeping after Peter had had yet another seizure and he’d held her all the while knowing that he was the reason that Peter was so unwell? How could he just stand by and let this happen to the sweetest and most innocent kid in the world? Did he know his brother at all?

“You’re insane” Ben said breathlessly, “You’re completely and totally fucking insane. You’re experimenting on your own son to make him...what? A weapon. Why him? I mean, why anyone, but why Peter?”

“He simply made the most sense,” Norman said with a shrug, “Harry’s too rebellious. I knew that getting him to comply with anything wouldn’t last very long. Harley’s...well, you’ve seen how dangerously thin the boy is. It’d have probably killed him and despite what you may think of me, Benjamin, I have no desire to bury any of my children. So, Peter it had to be. And he’s such a good, compliant boy. Maybe a little on the dim side as well, I’d have expected him to have pieced it together by now, but he hasn’t.”

“Probably because he’s so trusting and kind” Ben snapped, “And he can’t comprehend anyone choosing to harm another person.”

Steven Westcott suddenly engulfed the room like a dead elephant and Ben knew that he had to tread carefully now. 

“Perhaps” Norman went on, “But your brother has been right alongside me the entire time. Hell, he’s the one poking and prodding at Peter’s body most of the time. I merely observe and record. Which is why I want him to become acting CEO of Oscorp for the next few years; so we can carry on the work we’re already so far into”

“Over my dead body” Ben snarled, “You are not touching one hair on the boy’s precious head again Osborne, not if I have anything to do with it.”

“Yes, because we all know how far you’d go to protect Peter, don’t we?” Norman smiled, “I could see to it that you never see another day of freedom for the rest of your life, Benjamin. Don’t get cocky now.”

“If you try and take me down, I’ll bring you with me” Ben warned him, “All of you. Beck, Richard, anyone else who knew about this. Don’t think that I hold my brother in anything less than contempt now I know about this.”

Norman backed off, Ben smirked.

“Beck, I believe Mr. Parker has some papers he’ll wanna sign” Norman said with a shaky smile, “Please get them from my desk.”

Beck, ever the little lap dog, did exactly what he was told. 

“You’re really not that smart, Osborne” Ben said as he was handed the custody papers, “Throw my brother to the wolves if you want. He’s dead to me. You’ve got nothing over me now. I’ll read through these, sign them, and then you’ll never see  _ my  _ boys again.”

“Very well” Norman said as Ben turned and went to walk out of the office, “But it’s a shame to gamble with Harold’s freedom like this, Benjamin. Heaven knows what they’d do to him in a juvenile detention center. A teenage killer in the family? Isn’t that something.”

Ben stopped in his tracks and turned back to face Norman. He had to lie. He had to lie better and convince him that Harry was innocent. There was no alternative. There was no other way. How the hell did his bastard know  _ everything _ .

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Ben attempted to say with conviction, though he was undeniably rattled, “We all know what happened to Steven Westcott and you can use it against me if you really want, but to try and frame Harry? That’s low even for you, Osborne.”

“Is that so?” Norman said smugly, “The CCTV I’ve obtained from Steven Westcott’s apartment building on the night of his murder suggests quite a different tale from yours, now I can either destroy it, or I can have it accidentally leak to the press. What would you prefer?”

“He’s your  _ son _ ” Ben said, horrified, “How can you even entertain the idea of-”

“I’m just saying I’m willing to do it” Norman said casually, “Or I could delete all traces of it from existence, but it’ll come at a price….”

Of course it did. Everything came with a price when it had anything to do with Norman Osborne. 

*

_ Friday 19th June 2009, Oscorp Towers, New York, Mary Osborne’s wake. _

Peter looked around the room filled with guests and felt sick to his stomach. His mother’s funeral had by far been the worst moments of his life. It hadn’t really felt like she had actually gone until her coffin began to be lowered into the ground and Peter hadn’t been able to face looking at it, instead he’d found himself walking off with Abigail and sitting on a nearby park bench. Abigail was quickly becoming everything to Peter, the only reason he could face getting up every morning now was because he wanted to look after her and make sure she was alright. He could have stayed on that park bench with her all day if he’d had his way but May had told him he needed to leave with everyone else. Peter did what she asked because he always did what he was told, something he was becoming secretly sick of doing.

The worst person in the room was Peter’s father who wasn’t even acting like he was upset by their mother’s death. He was behaving in kind of the same way he always did whenever he’d drag them all to some kind of boring charity function. It was almost like he wasn’t upset at all. Peter knew that his father wasn’t a nice man but he was surprised he could be this cruel. But Peter minded his own business and sat quite happily in the corner of the dining area bouncing Abbie on his knees. No one really came up to him, maybe because no one really knew what to say.

That was until Johnny Storm came over.

“Hey Pete, how’re you doing?” he asked. It was almost funny. Ever since Peter had first met Johnny, the guy had been the most confident and charismatic person that Peter had ever met, he could command the attention of an entire room just by walking into it. Only he wasn’t like that now as he shuffled towards Peter almost shyly, holding what looked to be a homemade card in the palms of his hands. It didn’t escape Peter how nice Johnny looked in his suit though.

“Oh….y’know” Peter replied awkwardly, “How have you been?”

“Me?” Johnny asked, as if he was shocked that Peter would even ask that, “I’m...fine, I thought today was rough so I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you guys”

“Yeah, it was hard” Peter admitted as Abbie coo’d in his lap, “But luckily I had Abbie to distract me and she made it all better.”

“I’m glad” Johnny said with a smile, “Look, err, your friends Ned and Michelle asked me to give this to you or whatever….it’s a card...which you probably knew, sorry-”

Peter smiled as Johnny passed him the card Ned had made him. It was just a big love heart on the front and then a message inside that said he missed him and couldn’t wait to see him again after the summer break. Peter smiled, it was nice to know someone missed him.

“Wait-Michelle?” Peter asked, suddenly remembering the second name Johnny had mentioned, “Are you telling me Michelle Jones helped Ned make this?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Johnny replied, “She was with him yesterday when he came over and asked me to give it, she said she’d helped him herself. Oh, and she asked me to tell you she’s sorry she upset you before...well, y’know, you weren’t at school anymore.”

“Oh….right” Peter replied, having no idea what Michelle was talking about. He’d always assumed she’d hated him, then again he assumed most people didn’t like him. 

“Anyway, I better go” Johnny said, “Just wanted to say hi but I think Reed and Sue wanna leave soon, they barely let me come as it is. Reed distracted Sue so I could come over, she didn’t want me wandering off without her for some reason.”

Peter smiled, waved and made Abbie’s little hands wave goodbye to Johnny who ran back across the room to meet up with his brother in-law. Peter couldn’t deny that speaking to Johnny always made him feel a little lighter and calmer on the inside. Abbie squirmed in his arms and Peter knew that that meant she was ready for a feed, so he carefully stood up and carried her over to May, who had the baby bag. 

“Oh, honey, you don’t have to do that” May said as Peter sat down and started nursing Abbie her bottle, which she took happily, “I can do that if you want to go and spend some time with your brothers, and I think I’ve seen Johnny Storm around here somewhere.”

“I’d rather be with her” Peter muttered as he stared down at Abbie’s cherub face, “Don’t you think she’s just the cutest thing in the world, Aunt May?”

“Yes, honey, she is” May replied as she kissed him on the top of the head, “Now, did your Dad speak to you guys, yet?”

Peter nodded. He’d already spoken to all three boys that morning. Apparently, their father had decided he needed to move to Washington in order to focus on his political career and would be taking Beck with him and leaving them behind with Ben and May. Peter felt like their father had expected that they’d all cry and beg him to stay and it was almost funny how much none of them cared. Harry shrugged and said he already knew before going back to texting, Harley cried and pouted a little but soon cheered up when Peter reminded him how awesome it would be living with Ben and May and Peter himself didn’t really care where his Dad went or why. If he had his brothers and especially if he had Abbie, then he was fine. And as long as his father wasn’t around hurting his brothers anymore, Peter couldn’t care less. 

“And you’re OK with it?” May asked, “Because I know it’s going to be hard, but if we all work together and support one another, I know we’ll all be fine.”

“Yeah” Peter sighed, “We’ll be fine. We’ve got each other.”

“How did Harry and Harley take the news?” May asked. Peter had assumed she and Ben would be at the house and then the church with them that morning but Norman had apparently asked them to make their own way there so he could have some quality time with the kids. Peter knew that was a lie because anytime spent with Quentin Beck, who had ridden with them in the front car, could not be called quality time and then Norman had made them all pose for pictures from all the reporters outside the church. That had nearly sent Harley spiralling into a panic attack but he’d run into May a few seconds later and she sat with him through the whole service.

Their Dad had done the eulogy. Peter knew that Harry was disappointed because he’d wanted to say something too but Norman had been very insistent on him and only him speaking. It had been a nice speech as well, Peter could have almost believed that his Dad really cared and loved his Mom once, even if he’d been nothing but mean to all of them for as long as Peter could remember. Part of Peter had wanted to stand up in the middle of it all and scream about how much of a liar his father was and tell the world how he hit Harry and made Harley feel so bad himself that he refused to eat some days, but he knew that would only hurt his brothers, and that was the last thing that Peter would ever want to do. 

“They’re OK” Peter replied with a shrug, “At least they told me they were OK anyhow, maybe you should go find them. I’ve got Abbie.”

“OK, baby, just sit tight and we’ll head home in a while, OK?” May replied, “I’ll have to round up your Uncle Ben as well, God knows where he’s got to….I’m proud of you today, Peter, you’ve been so brave and I know your Mom would have felt the same too.”

“Thanks, Aunt May” Peter said with a smile as he felt May kiss the top of his head and then ruffle his hair. She left them alone but Peter wasn’t on his own for very long as he was soon enough joined at his table by Tony Stark, who sighed and deemed to take his sunglasses off for the first time all day as he looked down at Peter.

“How’re you holding up, kiddo?” Tony asked.

“I’m OK” Peter lied, “Looking after my sister.”

“And a mighty fine job you’re doing as well, might I add” Tony replied with a smile, “I’ve been kind of in awe of you and your brothers all day. You’re very brave young men.”

“Thanks” Peter sighed, “Don’t really feel it though, I didn’t do much.”

“Hey, you got yourself out of bed and came along, I’d call that a victory” Tony said flashing his infamous winning smile that made Peter grin, “Certainly coping better than I did when I had to bury my folks.”

Peter’s blood ran cold. He’d read about how Tony Stark’s parents had been killed once before, and one time his Dad had told them the story too, as he’d somewhat known Howard and Maria Stark. They’d been killed by a gunshot to the head in the middle of the forest too. Peter couldn’t help but wonder if there was a connection there, as unlikely as that seemed. 

“Same thing, wasn’t it?” Peter muttered.

“Yeah, it was” Tony said sadly as he placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder, “So, believe me kiddo, I know exactly how you’re feeling right now. Exactly...now, let’s have a looksee at this little lady shall we, you’ve dressed her up very pretty.”

Peter smiled as Tony Stark took his baby sister in his arms and began to babble away at her in baby talk, she seemed to like it, she was staring up at him in just the same way she would stare up at Peter every morning as he talked about any old thing whilst they watched the sunrise come up together. It was nice to see he wasn’t the only one Abbie could take a shine too. 

“Wow….that’s, wow” Tony said after a minute or so, holding Abbie a little closer to him so he could squint and look in her eyes, “That’s incredible.”

“What?” Peter asked.

“That little moon shaped crescent mark on her right eyeball” Tony said carefully as he looked Abigail over, “Have you noticed it before?”

Peter nodded.

“Yeah, it’s really beautiful isn’t it?” he said, “Wait, there’s not anything wrong with her is there?”

_ He’d die he’d die he’d die he’d die he’d die _

“Oh no, nothing wrong” Tony said lightly as he passed Abbie back over to Peter, “Nothing to worry about it at all, it’s just that specific type of mark is really rare. Like, crazy rare. My old man had one. It’s something that’s carried in the genes, d’you know if anyone else in your family has one.”

“Err, my nana I think” Peter replied, “My Mom’s side. She had one like that. That’s so cool, Mr. Stark.”

“Yeah, very cool” Tony said carefully before taking a deep breath, “Look, kid, I’ve got to shoot, billion dollar empire to run and all that but you boys take care of yourselves and this little angel and remember your friendly neighborhood ego-centric billionaire with a God complex is just around the corner if you ever need to talk.”

Peter smirked.

“Thanks, Mr. Stark” he said and then just as quickly as he had appeared, Tony Stark was gone again.

*

An hour later and Peter was relieved when May finally came to get him and told him that it was time they were leaving. The funeral and the wake had been exhausting but they hadn’t been quite as bad as Peter had been expecting. At least his Dad hadn’t made them pose or talk to people after those first pictures in front of the church, which were apparently already spread like wildfire around the entire Internet. Peter had never really thought about the fact that pretty much everyone in the entire world knew his family until now. 

When they got back to the Long Island manor after about an hour travelling, Peter could tell that Abbie was getting restless and needed her bottle and a nap, and was preparing to just take her right up to bed when their father coughed and asked them to all stay outside for a few minutes. The moving vans were already taking off and there was a separate car waiting for Norman to presumably drive him and Beck to the airport. Uncle Ben was still nowhere to be found. 

“What do you want, Dad?” Harry snapped, “Or are we not meant to call you that anymore now you’re running out on us?”

“Harold, I have tried to explain this several times” Norman replied impatiently, “If you’re still trying to deliberately miss the point then I’m done trying to make you see sense. I am not abandoning you, I am merely doing what I feel is best for the whole family.”

“Well I agree with you there” Harry snarled, “You fucking off is the best thing for us, you’ve never been a good Dad anyway, and I’m not even gonna be scared that you’ll hit me now cos I’m past caring trying to make you happy. None of us will ever be good enough for you.”

“Ah, and I agree with you there,” Norman said with a malicious smile back. Peter couldn’t lie. It definitely stung a little bit. He gripped Abbie tighter. Her favourite elephant toy in his other hand as Norman began pacing up and down. “But you can humour me for a few more minutes, seen as though I’ll be out of your lives imminently.”

“What, you want us to say goodbye?” Harry asked, “Fat chance.”

“Why are you leaving us, Dad?” Harley moaned, “Are we really that bad?”

“It’s on him, not you baby” May assured him. 

“So...that’s it?” Norman asked with a smirk, “No, goodbye’s for your old man, your old man who you don’t know when you’ll see again?”

“Doesn’t look like it” Harry snarled.

Norman’s face fell and gave off that look he liked to use as a warning, a sign that something bad was about to happen. Peter gulped. Harry shook and Harley whimpered a little.

“Very well” he said painfully slowly before turning to Beck, “Now, Beck, I’ve forgotten one thing, would you be so kind as to grab it for me?”

Peter should have known what was coming next when even Beck looked hesitant and a little bit betrayed about what he’d just been asked to do, but he was never one to ignore instructions and came over to Peter, lifting Abbie out of his arms so quickly that Peter didn’t even have a chance to react before he knew what was happening and May was screaming at Beck and Norman.

“WHAT’RE YOU DOING?” she roared as Beck climbed into the car and buckled Abigail into a car seat next to Norman, who tickled her tummy. Abigail began to cry, “WHERE ARE YOU TAKING HER?!”

Peter stood frozen to the spot, unable to process what was happening. His dad was….taking Abbie with him? Leaving them all behind but taking her, meaning that….that Abbie was going to be on the other side of the country from him, that he wouldn’t be going with her, that he wouldn’t be able to see her face everyday and have her cheer him up like only she could. They wouldn’t be able to have their special time in the morning, the only thing that made Peter be even able to get up and forget the world, because what did he have without that? What did he have without her? A dead Mom, seizures that were getting worse and the memories of being hurt in the worst possible way by someone he was meant to have been able to trust. 

He could vaguely hear May, Harry and Harley shouting and arguing with Norman. It was too much, it was all too much, for once he needed to speak. For once Peter needed to say what he wanted and let someone know how upset he was because this couldn’t be happening, he wouldn’t let it happen, it wasn’t fair, he needed Abbie. He needed her so bad.

“STOP IT!” he roared, louder than he even knew he was capable and suddenly the attentions of everyone present were on him. Peter took a deep breath and sort of fell forward and found himself kneeling at his father’s feet.

“Peter, get up, this is-”

“Please don’t do this Dad” Peter begged, “Please don’t take her from me. Don’t take her from us, I’m begging you Dad please, she won’t know what to do without me. Please. I’m the only one who can get her to stop crying, I’m the only one who can get her to go to sleep, please don’t take her away from me. I’ve already l-lost M-mom I c-can’t l-lose her t-too please Dad don’t take her.”

“I never planned on leaving her here, Peter” Norman sighed, “May and Ben should have realized that long ago, it’s their fault you had false hope of you all sticking together.”

“Ben signed the custodial papers” May barked, “Don’t you  _ dare  _ pin this on us.”

“Ben signed  _ three  _ custodial papers” Norman corrected her smugly, “One for Harley, one for Peter and one for Harold. Three. He knows that, whether he forgot to tell you or chose not to on purpose, I don’t know but taking Abigail was always part of the plan.”

May fell back in defeat, and Peter knew it was hopeless. She had no legal rights to Abbie at all, Norman was her sole guardian now. And he could take her wherever he wanted. 

“Why?” asked Harley, “Why her and not us?”

“She’s of more use to me” Norman said coldly before moving Peter to one side and stepping back into the car, which set off before anyone could react. Peter frowned as he noticed Abbie’s favourite Elephant toy had been forgotten in all the hassle. 

“NO WAIT” Peter called as he gave chase to the car with the Elephant toy clutched to his chest. If Abbie couldn’t have him, then she would definitely need this. “WAIT SHE CAN’T-SHE NEEDS THIS, DAD WAIT-”

He was out of breath by the time he reached the end of the driveway and by then the car carrying his precious baby sister was gone, and he had no hopes of catching up with it. Peter let out a pained, strangled noise as the realization that she was gone and he could not do anything about it hit him and forced the boy to his knees, three weeks worth of grief and pent up emotions spilling out of him in seconds as his brothers and May rushed towards him.

He could hear himself. He sounded like a dying animal. He  _ felt  _ like a dying animal. Peter curled into himself as he cried and pushed away anyone who tried to come near him. He didn’t want them. He wanted Abbie. He wanted his Mom.

At some point, someone carried him into the house, and he was too tired and broken to even try and fight against the strong arms that held him. It was only what must have been a few hours later when he became aware of the pounding headache that was plaguing him that Peter realized the person was Ben and now they were sitting on the couch together, Ben looking at him mournfully. 

“Abbie’s gone” he croaked, “You let him take my sister.”

“I didn’t know he was going to do that kiddo, I swear” Ben replied, “He told me that he’d only let us keep Abbie as long as I kept quiet over one or two things-”

“But you never signed the papers to keep her” Peter sighed.

“He didn’t have them ready” Ben muttered, “Believe me, Peter, I did everything I could to try and keep her with you but when your Dad wants something, he tends to make sure he gets it. No matter who gets hurt along the way.”

“You should have made sure” Peter said angrily, “You shouldn’t have agreed to anything if you hadn’t signed the papers. She’s gone because of you.”

“Peter-”

“You said you’d keep us safe, May said we’d all be together” Peter snapped, his anger rising and rising once again, “It’d be OK if we were together. I could get through it if we were all together. If I still had Abbie to look after and help me get through the day but now she’s gone and it’s all YOUR fault-”

“Peter, calm down, you’re gonna-”

“I HATE YOU” Peter screamed, and three months worth of anger unleashed itself in the direction of Ben Parker who suddenly found himself deflecting and blocking blow after blow, struggling as Peter wailed around him, “I HATE IT. I HATE YOU. I HATE BEING ALIVE. WHAT’S THE POINT WHEN EVERYONE I KNOW JUST LEAVES.”

“Peter, please-”

“SKIP HURT ME AND MOM’S DEAD AND NOW ABBIE’S GONE TOO” Peter cried as he carried on hitting Ben’s back, as if somehow that would make all the hurt and pain and worry go away, “MY OWN DAD DOESN’T EVEN WANT ME! ARGH”

Ben must have managed to get a hold of him somehow after that because the next thing Peter knew, he was laying down motionless on Ben’s lap as May ran her hands through his hair. Looking down, he could see Harry and Harley staring back up at him. Harley was sitting Abigail’s favourite toy on his lap and held a cheese sandwich out to Peter.

“Sorry” were the first words from his mouth, and he hoped Ben knew they were for him, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I’m not good enough.”

“You  _ are  _ good enough, Peter” Harry said emphatically, “You’re the best person in the entire world and everyone loves you so much.”

“Not enough to stay” Peter mumbled, twisting his fist in May’s dressing gown.

“We’re not going anywhere, baby” May sighed, “And we all love you so, so much”

“And we’ll find a way to get Abbie back, Pete” Ben said. Peter turned around and tried to have the faith he used to have in the man but found it wasn’t there now, “I know you’re maybe not ready to hear that kinda thing from me so soon, but Abbie will be back where she belongs. With you. I promise.”

Peter nodded, and trusted that at least Ben believed what he was saying and would try his best to make it happen.

Harley leaned forward and passed Peter the toy and the sandwich. 

“I’m gonna do so good for you, Petey” Harley promised, “We’re gonna be the best brothers in the world, aren’t we, Harry?”

Harry nodded. 

“Yeah, and we’ve had the best role model already, so how hard can it be?” Harry smirked, “You don’t gotta worry about everyone else all the time, Pete.”

“But, I-”

“Peter, think about everything you’ve been through the past few months” May sighed, “It’s so much sweetie, no wonder you snapped. No one blames you, and you’re just a little kid. I should never have let you take on as much as you did. But you can let go now. We’ve got the reigns for the time being, let us steer. You just focus on being you.”

“What if I can’t?” Peter asked.

“That’s what we’re here for!” Harley said. 

“But, Abbie-” Peter began.

“We’re all gonna miss her, Pete” Harry sighed, “But you need to get better and start to sort out what’s going on in your head, and you can’t give Abbie the best of you when you’re all screwed up.”

Peter nodded. Screwed up. That was one way to describe it.

“Like I said earlier baby, we can get through this, as long as we stick together” May told him and kissed him on the cheek. Peter nodded. It didn’t feel good or right but he was just so tired he found himself agreeing to it all. 

*

_ Saturday 20th June 2009, Stark Tower Workshop, Manhattan, New York. _

“Is that conclusive, Jarvis?” Tony asked his A.I. He’d taken extra precautions that morning, truly sealing himself off in the lab so that there was no risk of any interruptions from Pepper, Happy or Rhodey, all of whom had taken to randomly dropping in to see how he was doing after the trauma of Obadiah Stane. 

“Yes, boss” JARVIS replied, “I can confirm a 100% DNA match.”

“OK” Tony breathed, “Wow….so that means….”

“Mary Osborne ne’ Holland was your biological half-sister” JARVIS repeated for what must have been the tenth time since first revealing the match but Tony just wanted to be sure, “You are half-siblings via your father, Howard Stark.”

JARVIS pulled up a picture of Tony alongside Peter Osborne. The resemblance was uncanny now Tony thought about it.

“So, that means that her sons are my-”

“Nephews, sir, yes” JARVIS replied, “And Abigail Osborne is your biological niece.”

“Well, fancy that” Tony said to himself as JARVIS pulled up a ready-made family tree showing exactly how Tony and Mary had been related, “Ain’t life a doozy. And finally my Dad’s seedy past produces something good.”

“What plans do you have to utilize this information, boss?” JARVIS asked. 

“I don’t know, J” Tony replied peering towards the screen, “I don’t know.”

*

_ Sunday, June 21st 2009, Queens Police Station, New York City. _

Jefferson Davis hated working the late shift. Just a night of working amongst the drunk and disorderly or old dears who’d gotten themselves lost and in a state on their way home on the subway. Or kids who thought it was a good idea to let fireworks off just outside of Jamaica station. 

Yeah, the late shift wasn’t for him. Manning the desk in general wasn’t for him. He wanted to be out catching criminals, not stuck inside telling Mrs. Borderick how to get back to her own damn address for the fifth time this month. Sometimes he wished there was some kind of public service agent who could deal with all these local problems. 

He glanced at his phone. Still no text back from Rio. Not good. 

Jefferson barely noticed the disheveled looking man in a heavy raincoat come in until the man was standing just in front of him, looking seriously spooked.

“How can I help you?” Jefferson asked politely.

“I need to speak with someone regarding the murder of Mary Osborne” the man replied, “My name is Richard Parker, and I have information regarding who killed her.”

Jefferson’s heart practically leaped out of his chest. Mary Osborne’s murder had been all the news could talk about for weeks, and it was already considered a dead and buried case. Not a single scrap of forensic evidence or any footprints at the scene. Nothing. It was as if a ghost had done it. If this Richard Parker had any information regarding who had killed Mary Osborne, then Jefferson would gladly take it. That lady and her sons deserved some justice. 

“OK…” Jefferson said as he reached for his notepad, before being flawed again.

“It was me” Richard Parker said shakily, “It was me. I’m the one. I’m the one who killed Mary Osborne.”

*


	2. Note

Just to clarify this is the end of the first part of the story but the posts will carry on under the Blood Feud series bookmark!

Much love,  
Jamie  
Xx

**Author's Note:**

> CLIFFHANGER.
> 
> And that brings Part One of The Gathering Storm to a close. Part Two begins with the next update, currently scheduled for the first week of September, but it may be up before then depending on whether the UK does enter a second lockdown in the meantime and I find myself with a lot of free time on my hands again, we shall see. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a comment down below so I know you felt about that last scene! 
> 
> Thanks a lot as always,  
> stay safe,  
> Jamie xxxx


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